Explaining the Low Primary School Performance in the Rural District of Black River, Mauritius: A Teacher’s Perspective

Pass rates at the end of primary schooling for the rural district of Black River are alarming as they have remained at a low level over many years. This research seeks to explain the situation from a teacher’s perspective and to unveil the causes which persistently hamper student progress. Statistics show that children in Black River are on a par with their counterparts in other rural and urban areas in respect to access to school facilities, qualified teachers, and provision of pedagogical materials and learning tools.  This study shows that students’ motivation, follow-up of learning at home and parents’ involvement in children’s studies are at an unacceptable level and require urgent consideration. The last two determinants were found to be positively related but the correlation coefficient is not very high (r = 0.518). Analysis also points to the low and inadequate level of pre-primary education of children when they enter primary schools, and to the difficulties of teachers in educating children with social problems. One seminal finding of this research study is that, without sustained parent/community support and encouragement, learning performance in the Black River region is unlikely to be improved.  This finding is in agreement with the results of many studies reported previously in the literature. Respondents made some valuable suggestions for remedying the situation, the most important one being the need to implement community-based strategies to encourage parents and the surrounding community to support the education of children

Open and Distance Learning: An Unavoidable Pillar in the Building of a Knowledge Society

Knowledge societies can only be built when the education pillar is strong enough to support them. Open and distance learning (ODL) is revolutionising the ways learning takes place and emancipating educational practice from the confined walls of traditional classrooms to make learning accessible to anyone, anywhere and at any time. The pervasiveness of technology and the much acclaimed pedagogical worth it carries will undoubtedly shape the ODL learning paradigm in unprecedented ways. This research paper has looked into some key aspects of ODL in Mauritius and assessed its role as a vital pillar in the creation of a knowledge society. Using future thinking tools, a Futures Wheel was developed to portray the different trends and signals that will define the future of ODL in Mauritius. The findings of this paper show that Mauritius can offer high quality courses at affordable costs by maximising the tenets of technology